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Rating: 
Summary: Canonical Foreign Policy
Review: Mr. Kennan is a fine example of the best in American thought. Europeans who complain that U.S. policymakers are not thoughtful about the world would do well to read this book. Fantastic.
Rating: 
Summary: Eloquent but Slight
Review: The lectures reprinted in this book were delivered in 1951 by George Kennan, the legendary American diplomat who authored the "containment" doctrine that guided U.S. relations with the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. Each lecture analyzes a key episode or turning point in American foreign policy between 1898 and the onset of the Cold War. The lectures stand up pretty well after half-a-century. Kennan's main point is that the American aversion to diplomatic realism leads to an infantalized domestic debate on foreign policy issues and limits our ability to pursue balance of power strategies. Kennan wrote eloquently and knew what he was talking about -- the ease with which the Bush Administration gulled the American public into supporting the invasion of Iraq is a timely reminder of the need for better public education on foreign policy. Kennan had a distinguished career as an historian after he left the State Department. However, the reader looking for diplomatic history should know that these lectures are short quasi-philosophical ruminations on the goals and methods of foreign policy in a democracy. They are not detailed reconstructions of diplomatic episodes or negotiations.
Rating: 
Summary: Eloquent but Slight
Review: The original title of this book, American Diplomacy 1900-1950, is misleading. It implies that this is a study of American diplomacy between the two dates. Wrong. The book is split into two parts. The first part is based on a series of lectures given by Kennan. Each talk looks at a specific event (Spanish American War, WWI or WWII) and draws a general lesson from that event that can be applied to other times and places. For example, the lesson (well, one of them) Kennan draws from his lecture on the Spanish-American War and the US grab for empire is that the US often does not adequately consider the consequences of its actions. In particular, we do not consider what to do after the fighting stops. Hmm, does that sound familiar? The second part is a reprint of two famous Kennan articles. The first is the Mr. X article laying out the theory of containment. The second speculates about the nature of a Russia that has gone through the changes hypothesized in the first piece. These two pieces might seem dated, but there are some points that are still vary valid. For example, Kennan stress that US must be on the side of the angels. He thinks that the USSR's fall is inevitable. He wants the Russian people to think well of the US when that event happens. The first article (and the "long telegram" on which it was based) provides a great model for any analysis of an enemy state and the proper way to think about US policy
Rating:
Summary: A misleading title covers a gem
Review: The original title of this book, American Diplomacy 1900-1950, is misleading. It implies that this is a study of American diplomacy between the two dates. Wrong. The book is split into two parts. The first part is based on a series of lectures given by Kennan. Each talk looks at a specific event (Spanish American War, WWI or WWII) and draws a general lesson from that event that can be applied to other times and places. For example, the lesson (well, one of them) Kennan draws from his lecture on the Spanish-American War and the US grab for empire is that the US often does not adequately consider the consequences of its actions. In particular, we do not consider what to do after the fighting stops. Hmm, does that sound familiar? The second part is a reprint of two famous Kennan articles. The first is the Mr. X article laying out the theory of containment. The second speculates about the nature of a Russia that has gone through the changes hypothesized in the first piece. These two pieces might seem dated, but there are some points that are still vary valid. For example, Kennan stress that US must be on the side of the angels. He thinks that the USSR's fall is inevitable. He wants the Russian people to think well of the US when that event happens. The first article (and the "long telegram" on which it was based) provides a great model for any analysis of an enemy state and the proper way to think about US policy
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting Perspectives
Review: This book is a collection of speeches by George F. Kennan made during the Cold War. For those unfamiliar with the author, he is the author of the famous "X" article, The Sources of Soviet Conduct, which served as the intellectual foundation of the Containment Doctrine. Although dated, especially since the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, this short book provides a useful look not only at the ideas of one of our most eminent Cold War thinkers, but also of the atmosphere and conditions of the period.
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